Web travel tips for Veterans Day observances

Sunday

Oct 28, 2007 at 2:00 AM

Veterans Day is coming up, with parades and solemn observances you can attend in Washington and elsewhere around the nation. You just have time to make your travel plans with a little help from the Internet.

ROGER PETTERSON

Veterans Day is coming up, with parades and solemn observances you can attend in Washington and elsewhere around the nation. You just have time to make your travel plans with a little help from the Internet.

Just outside Washington in northern Virginia, Arlington National Cemetery — www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ — will be the site of a ceremony in honor of present and past military personnel on Sunday, Nov. 11. Details on the ceremony can be found at the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site for Veterans Day — http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/ — under "National Ceremony." The VA Web site also has history of the holiday, resources for kids and other information.

While you're at Arlington, you can visit the Tomb of the Unknowns, the graves of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial and others. "Visitor Information" is right at the top of the cemetery Web page, and you might also want to click on "Historical Information" for details on some of the people buried here.

Arlington is just one of the memorials that will be a focus of Veterans Day in northern Virginia. The state's official travel Web site has a handy outline of events — http://tinyurl.com/2m3d72 — with links to Web sites, including the Air Force Memorial next to Arlington Cemetery and the Freedom Museum at Manassas. For travel information and places to stay, go to the top of the page and click on "Virginia is for Lovers" to get to the home page of the state travel Web site.

Inside Washington, spend some quiet moments at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — www.nps.gov/vive/ — and attend the wreath-laying ceremony on Veterans Day. On Nov. 10, Vietnam Veterans of America is holding a parade — http://tinyurl.com/2yr3sk — for the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Wall.

The Wall is among several places in Washington where observances will be held. The folks at About.com have put together a guide — http://dc.about.com/od/hoildaysseasonalevents/a/VeteransDay.htm — with times.

Learn your way around Washington with help from the maps at the city's official Web site for visitors — http://www.washington.org/ — and click on "Visitor Information" to access their guides to hotels, restaurants and sightseeing. Click on "What To Do" and then "Attractions" for connections to the Smithsonian and other museums, plus historic places and military sites such as the Iwo Jima Statue.

If you're going to be in the Southeast, the Georgia Veterans Day Parade — www.gavetsdayparade.org/ — is planned for downtown Atlanta, followed by the Veterans Day Ball in the evening. In the Midwest, Ohio's Veterans Day Parade — www.milvets.org/vetparade.htm — is set to start at noon on Nov. 9 in Columbus.

You might also honor the nation's defense heritage by visiting one of the many armed services museums.

Southwest of Washington on Interstate 95, the National Museum of the Marine Corps — www.usmcmuseum.org/ — is planning to observe the holiday with oral history interviews of visiting veterans.

The Army has a list of its museums — www.army.mil/CMH/Museums/links.htm — and the Navy — http://tinyurl.com/3cqrtg — has its own guide. The Air Force's official museum — www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/ — is at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio.